Episode 5 – Rebuilding Research Cultures with Prof Kate Williams
Prof Kate Williams has been talking about research culture since 1996, long before it had a name. Many of the problems she raised as a contract researcher in the 1990s are still on the table today.
In the fifth episode of Difficult Conversations, Dr Kike Ladipo and Dr Gez Williams talk to Kate, Co-PI on I-REACCH, who leads its Leading with Empathy workstream. Kate explains why a healthy research culture starts with investing in the people doing the research, and makes the case for micro communities: the small teams where people feel safe enough to share their ideas. She talks about normalising failure, what the 2020 Wellcome report on research culture exposed, how the pandemic changed the way teams work together, and why research culture statements for REF and funders have to be lived, not just written.
Her one meaningful change is to redefine leadership, so that empathy and the time spent listening to people are valued and rewarded. If you’ve ever told a colleague you’re too busy to talk, this conversation is a good place to start.
Listen to the episode
About our guest
Kate Williams is Professor of Education in Applied Health Research at the University of Leicester, Lead for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the College of Life Sciences, and Co-PI of the Wellcome Trust-funded I-REACCH programme. She trained as a nurse before studying Politics at Warwick University and completing a PhD in Applied Health Research. Kate leads the MRes in Applied Health Research, supports students through the Leicester Medical School Pastoral Support Unit, and is staff co-lead of MedRACE. She led Leicester’s first department, college and University Silver Athena Swan awards, and has led multiple projects tackling inequalities through what she calls gentle but persistent activism.
Useful links and resources
- What researchers think about the culture they work in: Wellcome’s 2020 research culture report
- MedRACE, University of Leicester
- I-REACCH: Inclusive Research Environment Achieved through Culture Change
Timecodes
- 00:00 Welcome to Difficult Conversations
- 00:39 Introducing Prof Kate Williams
- 01:43 What does a healthy research culture look and feel like?
- 03:08 Why research culture can be a difficult conversation
- 05:17 What inclusion means
- 07:37 Why inclusion matters, and the case for micro communities
- 11:46 The loss of collaborative spaces
- 12:13 Good practice, including normalising failure
- 15:07 What the 2020 Wellcome report exposed
- 17:48 How the pandemic reshaped research culture
- 19:32 What has recovered, and what remains fragile
- 20:36 Priorities for research culture in 2026 and beyond
- 23:49 Research culture, REF and funders
- 26:10 Can research culture avoid becoming a tick-box exercise?
- 27:36 One meaningful change: redefining leadership
- 31:19 How to start a conversation about research culture
- 31:58 What gives Kate hope
- 34:02 Closing reflections from Kike
- 36:02 Credits
Difficult Conversations is hosted by Dr Kike Ladipo and Dr Gez Williams, and produced by Chaos Created for I-REACCH, a Wellcome-funded project at the University of Leicester.
